Cover
by Mi
Summary: Snape is on the edge of blowing his cover when a job for Voldemort goes wrong. Two chapter story which continues my Snape-McGonagall series. Complete.
1. Part One

Author Notes: 

This story takes place in Harry's fifth year. For more information about the nature of the Snape and McGonagall friendship, read **_"Nothing's lost which can't be found if sought"_** and for details on Neville Longbottom's evolving Transfiguration skills, see **_"Teaching Qualities"_**.

Yap did the malicious beta reading! ("Da _gibt's_ ein Wort ..."/"There _has_ to be a word ..."/"Oh, we're getting there ... but – what exactly do want to say?") 

And everyone in and out of Hogwarts belongs to J.K. Rowling!

Hope you like it ... COVER 

Part one of two

They'd made it a habit. Most of the times when he returned from his Death Eater meetings, McGonagall - picked him up. They just walked back to Hogwarts together and sometimes they even _smalltalked_. Five or six sentences couldn't be called a proper conversation, but he appreciated it. They never talked about spying or personal things, but teaching and students were considered safe subjects. It was kind of ... soothing. Not that he'd admit it.

Tonight he was early.

After a rather uneventful evening consisting of strategy hearings and unsuccessful glaring-contests with Voldemort's snake - unsuccessful for the snake of course - Voldemort had sent him to deliver a letter to one high-ranking Death Eater in the Ministry of Magic. Big deal. Voldemort had been planning raids on the Ministry's staff for weeks, and now he'd finally made his first move to get it started. He'd also made it abundantly clear that Severus was not to be delayed for this appointment and that he had to return immediately afterwards.

But if the raids should start tonight, he had to inform Dumbledore as fast as possible, in fact before he met his contact. So he'd decided to take the risk of Apparating to Hogsmeade first and assigning McGonagall to get the _intelligence_ to Dumbledore. And what a useful spy he was, Severus thought bitterly. He hadn't even managed to open the letter. But then again, it was about time that Voldemort had become more careful about protecting his informations, really.

"Minerva, are you here?" he called the instant he appeared.

No answer. He quickly scanned the place for signs of cat. "McGonagall!" he hissed. Damn! When the woman was needed for once! Very well then. He would summon Edgar, his owl, and write a note. He conjured parchment and a quill and started writing and ... he'd missed something, something important. Something he just saw. God, he hated this. Ever since this whole double-agent mess started again he'd so easily failed to concentrate. He'd never had to deal with this lack of _mentality_ before - forgetting things, dozing off during staff meetings, losing track halfway through his sarcastic remarks and thinking _slowly_. 

He looked around once more, searching for what he thought he'd missed. It was behind a bush, a little out of sight but clearly recognisable. How could he possibly have overlooked this! There was blood on the snow - and fur. 

He stared at it for lack of doing anything else. So McGonagall had been here after all. He tried to concentrate again and felt his heart pounding much too fast, which didn't help him focus. He did notice the footprints though. Two of them, leading away from the town and into the Forbidden Forest.

Without thinking twice he started running and stopped dead in his tracks immediately afterwards. He couldn't go after her. He had to get this letter to London before Voldemort found out about – well, pretty much everything. Edgar could take that note to Hogwarts and _they_ would search for McGonagall. He couldn't risk his cover for anyone. There was no time. He couldn't ... let anything happen to her. 

He started running again. He had to find a way to cover it up later. 

So Severus forced his way through the snow, holding on tight to the letter in his pale hand.

***

Minerva finished her last cup of coffee for today. She was almost a bit late, but Snape was never on time either, at least not on those special occasions. So she took her time to clean up the dish and store away her papers, smiling contentedly to herself. Today Longbottom had had another breakthrough in Transfiguration. She decided that this would be the perfect subject to tease Snape with later. Her smile went mischievous, imagining the look on his face and his presumably sneering voice. Ten points for Gryffindor!

Five minutes later a tabby cat left Hogwarts and paced through the cold snow down to Hogsmeade. She hadn't told a soul about her nightly meetings with the Head of Slytherin House, and she intended to keep it that way. Not that she, in any way, could comprehend what it must be like to spy on Voldemort, but she'd never had a _secret_ _affair_ before. It was something out of her usual behaviour. It was exciting. Of course, some part of her was always concerned, but she stubbornly tried to ignore it.

She slowed down, not keen on giving the impression of being overexcited or – 

She froze. Her cat-nose had caught the smell of fresh blood. She focused on the scent, following it carefully in the direction of their meeting point. She tried to calm down, but every time she'd waited for Snape she'd been scared that something like this would happen - that he would come back wounded, or wouldn't come back at all. No. She stopped herself from following that thought any further.

When she got there, the scenery wasn't what she'd feared. The blood wasn't his and her heartbeat slowed down a bit. It smelled like animal's blood and there was fur and two pairs of small footprints and obviously Snape had been following the trail. She frowned. But why? What was he thinking? She looked at the footprints again. Good Lord, he couldn't have possibly thought that they were hers? She shook her head in disbelief. Alright, the Forbidden Forest it was then. At least he wasn't injured, and with his prints as clear as this in the snow, she shouldn't have a hard time catching up with him.

***

He was cold. And wet. And the tree was _very_ high. He really didn't want to climb it, so he tried shouting first.

"McGonagall! Are you up there?" He listened carefully, but all he could hear were his teeth chattering. 

"I'm in a hurry here, so why don't you just jump and I'll catch?" Damn, this was useless. But something had been climbing up this tree. Scratches were all over the trunk and the trail didn't go any further. So ...

"Minerva?"

Finally a lengthy snarl answered him. Not the sound he'd expected from a _kitty_, but it was McGonagall after all. 

"Oh, come down here! Cats are afraid of heights, aren't they?" That probably would be dogs, but who could tell anyway.

He held out his arms and - was distracted when something rubbed up against his leg. He looked down. A little scruffy fox looked back and started to tear on his robe, apparently in an attempt to get his attention. It was stained with blood and looked very ... indignant. He knew that kind of expression. The _fox_ also had an oversized bushy tail and its fur looked slightly curly. Oh, no. There was no way _she_ could be ...

Severus switched into teacher mode with amazing speed, not the least interested in holding back his anger. 

"GRANGER! What are you doing here?" he thundered. It would have been most intimidating, if his arms hadn't been still up in the air.

"You are expelled! And don't try to tell me you failed to notice that you're out of school, past curfew - in the Forbidden Forest! I bet this is no part of your animagus training. Are you trying to get yourself killed, stupid girl? If so - I'd love to be of assistance. You, of all students, should have enough brains to ... STOP CHEWING ON ME!" 

Hermione winced.

"_WHAT_ is it?" He looked up. Something came down. He grabbed the fox and drew his wand in one swift movement and managed to step out of the way in time. 

In a split second some part of his brain filed it as a prowler. A creature with the ability to take on the size of its respective victim. It was fast and deadly and had now the size of one Professor Snape - _and_ it landed too close for him to get a clear shot. It swung one arm to attack and Severus quickly turned away, covering the fox.

The claws ripped through his clothes and flesh all the way down his back, but he barely felt it. He closed his eyes. "LUMOS SOLARIS!" He jumped out of reach and then turned around to end the spell from a safe distance. The prowler was blinded but raged on furiously, swinging its arms. Severus was about to cast a stunning spell when the creature jumped. The curse hit it in mid-air, but the prowler wasn't impressed. It crashed into Severus full force, sending him to the ground and sliding through the snow until a tree stopped him. Granger howled - a high-pitched frightened sound - and he felt her claws piercing his arm. He acted on instict. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" 

The prowler was dead before it hit the ground.

It took him almost a minute before he could stagger back to his feet. He didn't give the creature a second glance, trying to ignore the fact that he'd just cast an Unforgivable. He released the fox from his tight and probably painful grip and quickly inspected Granger's wounds. They were all minor cuts. She'd been too lucky in his opinion. She gave him an accusing look, as if she could read his thoughts.

"Granger. Turn back this instant," he said coolly and Granger wailed.

"She can't," came a voice from behind him. 

He jerked around, taken by surprise. 

"Severus. What in the Heaven's name happened here?" McGonagall seemed totally fluttered. She stared at the dead prowler and then back at him. Under different circumstances her disbelieving face would have amused him.

He picked up the fox again and walked over to her. "If she were in my house ... " he said dryly, handing over the fox. But he coudn't finish his sentiment. He only had time to think that the wound on his back couldn't be deep enough to make him faint - before he did. 

***

Severus sat up and saw Granger sitting on a log. She had been transfigured back and looked miserable beyond anything. That almost made his day. 

"How long - exactly - was I out?"

"I don't know _exactly_," Minerva snapped. She was in an awfully bad mood, deeply disappointed in Hermione, and Snape was injured after all. Not to mention the dead creature they would have to explain. 

"I think you've been out for about fourty-five minutes. You lost quite a lot of blood and I thought it better to let you rest a while before we - " she was cut off by Snape going dead pale. "Severus, are you alright?" 

"I have to go," he croaked.

"Go? Go where? For what?"

He suddenly broke out in frantic activity. He conjured a new robe and did a cleaning spell to get rid of the blood. Then he cast a really powerful healing charm she'd only heard of until now. She tightened her lips. More Dark Magic in front of a student. 

"Take Miss Granger back," he ordered curtly, looking around in confusion. "How far from Hogsmeade are we? Does this belong to Hogwarts ground?" 

Minerva was baffled. "You should know that better than I ... and I'm not going anywhere until you tell me - "

"Stop that. We had this kind of discussion once and it's not going to be repeated. You will - " He stopped himself. Something had just slipped his mind again. Or better his hand. His mouth went dry. 

"Where's the letter?"

"What letter?"

"The letter from, you know ... the one I was supposed to ... " 

Severus covered his face with his hands. He had to calm down and clear his head. He'd had the letter in his hand when he came here. When did he ... of course. Holding a fox in one hand and his wand in the other didn't leave much place for anything else, did it? He straightened up and started searching. "LUMOS!"

Minerva wasn't a slow thinker and seeing Snape on the edge of, well - snapping, gave her some good clues. "Miss Granger," she said slowly. "We'd better help Professor Snape find his letter."

It took them what seemed like years to find it. And it was due to Granger's suggestion to look _under_ the prowler that they finally did. 

Minerva picked the letter up and gazed at the insignia. "Tell me this isn't what I think it is."

He snatched it out of her hands. "It is. And I have to deliver it. So, don't be in my way!" 

"But ... aren't you too late for that already?" she stammered, losing her stern composure. "He will know! You can't go back!" 

Severus tried to ignore her. And he tried to ignore that he was scared. He started drifting away from McGonagall's ongoing tantrum when she suddenly seized him firmly by his shoulders.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Yes! But I can't stay. I can't blow my cover like this. I ... just can't. "

"You'll be killed! Is that what you -" 

"NO," he cried out, grabbing her wrists. "GET OFF ME!" He pushed her back - hard. She crashed against the tree and Severus could see her cringe. 

"What are you doing?" Hermione yelled. "Get away from her!"

"It's all right Miss Granger." Minerva steadied her voice. "Just stay back." 

"But - "

"Do as I SAY!" Pain made her gasp. She looked blankly at Snape who hadn't moved an inch, and she noticed the strange expression on his face.

"Minerva ... " 

"Please. Don't go. You don't have to do this."

He didn't want to. He wanted to go home. But that would be easy. And easy just couldn't be right. Not for him anyway. He cleared his throat. "Miss Granger, will you please enlighten us with your wisdom. Seems as if we've run out of clear thinking. Where - "

"You have to go ... about half a mile back in the direction you came from. Then you'll be outside of Hogwarts ground." She glared at him. "It should take you about five minutes to get there, and ten more to reach Hogsmeade - if you run."

_end of part one_


	2. Part Two

****

Cover

Part two

"I've made hot chocolate."

"Thank you, Albus," Minerva said wearily. She looked up at the Headmaster who sat on the edge of his desk, watching her thoroughly. 

"I'm glad you finally came to me," he started his speech, which would inevitably become a fully-fledged lecture. She felt like a child, thinking like this. "Although I would have preferred to know about this earlier. And - "

"I know!" She sighed. "I'm so sorry Albus. It was all a big mistake anyway."

He raised a heavy eyebrow. "What would that 'all' be then?"

"I should have never got myself involved with Severus' business in the first place. It was a stupid and immature thing to do."

"Immature?"

"He just seemed so ... it just seemed a rational choice at that time."

"Rational?"

"Please, would you stop that." 

"Those are just not the words I would have chosen." 

"It's just - it's all my fault. I mean, I wasn't really helping, was I? I put Severus and myself in danger, _and_ the whole school. Just imagine - if a real Death Eater had shown up one night ... "

"I fear that's true, Minerva. But don't you think there is more to it then - "

She sat up straight, cutting him short. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Me? What should I do? Take points from your houses?" 

"That's not what I meant. You could tell me not to ... "

"What?"

"I don't know." She slouched back into her armchair. Now she felt ... old. 

Albus took the half-finished cup out of her hands. "Why don't you try and get some sleep? I'll have you informed when he comes back."

"_If_ he comes back." 

"_When_ he comes back, Minerva. I'm sorry that I can't be of any more help right now, for both of you. But you shouldn't underestimate Severus' ability to ... adapt." 

"Oh, Albus. I don't know what to do with all this. Can't you just give me some simple advice for once? I'm immensely tired of looking for all the answers on my own."

"Ah!" He made a meaningful pause, giving her one of his now-we're-getting-to-the-point smiles. 

"I think I know perfectly well what you mean, Minerva. And if you insist I will try and make it sound like a simple advice. For some people, sorting things out on their own can be an awfully heavy burden to bear, don't you think? So try to look behind what you just said, and you won't need me to tell you what to do."

***

"MORS REGIS!" 

He shouted out the password and entered the inner sanctuary of Voldemort's headquarters. The doors to Voldemort's _office_ - if it could be called that - were closed, so Severus waited to be summoned in. His brain was still frantically flooding him with all kinds of silly excuses and far-fetched stories of how he was delayed or magically misdirected, caught by some aurors or ... Blast! Each new idea sounded as stupid and unbelievable as the last one. 

In fact he couldn't think of _any_ plausible explanation for his failure to deliver the letter at all. After he'd left the Forbidden Forest he'd arrived over an hour late for his appointment and his contact hadn't cared to wait, which wasn't really surprising. So he'd brought the letter back, and Voldemort wanted to see him at once. Again - no surprise. What _had_ been strange, come to think of it, was the way the other Death Eaters had been acting around him after his arrival. They'd seemed to be ... _relieved_ somehow to see him, which clearly wasn't what he had expected. He pushed away that thought for now, but not too far - perhaps he would have to remember it later - and tried to focus on his alibi again. There had to be _something_ he could come up with. 

Suddenly he heard movement and voices outside the hidden entrance and felt sweat running down his back. Several thoughts rushed through his head - that it was all his fault, that he'd hurt her, that he'd been so darn stupid as to let someone interfere with his concerns in the first place, that he hadn't spoken to Albus about who should replace him as head of house - when the door swung open and Lucius Malfoy approached, and failed to kill him on the spot. 

"Severus!" He put one arm around his shoulder. So it would be gloating first. 

"Lucius."

"Oh please, don't give me that 'Lucius' voice. You made it! And as I see without losing the letter and without even a bloody nose. Good. I knew you would manage to shake them off."

Severus was paralyzed. He tried to get his mind around what exactly all this meant, and resisted the urge to blurt out questions like _'I've made what?'_ or _'Who did I manage to shake off?'_ or _'What are you talking about anyway?'_ and instead said simply nothing.

"You look a bit shaken, though," Lucius went on, seemingly not distracted in the slightest by his friend's lack of response.

And then Severus' thoughts became perfectly clear - perhaps for the first time today. Something had happened while he'd been out in the woods. Something unexpected. Something Lucius and the others, and hopefully Voldemort too, would have wanted him to escape from ... with the letter. He forced a smirk on his face.

"Oh, come on." Lucius' grey eyes were sparkling with curiosity. "There were more than a dozen aurors waiting for you!"

Severus shook Lucius' arm off. It just felt better to be able to move. 

"I ... saw them before they saw me, I guess," he managed, even in his usual sneering voice.

"So, you were just lucky?"

"_They_ were."

Lucius laughed out loud, obviously pleased with Severus' improvising. "That's what I wanted to hear. But we really have a situation here, you know. And that isn't funny at all."

Severus gave him an approvingly stern look and Lucius kept going.

"Someone was passing information to the Ministry, hence the ambush. They knew everything! Can you believe that?" He sighed exasperatedly. "They managed to catch our Ministry informant - he's starting to rot in Azkaban right now. And His Lordship ... let's say he's not taking it well. I mean, we both know that someone has been spying on us for some time now, but this was a highly classified information we're talking about. Only a few people knew of this before he gave you the assignment to deliver the letter. And almost the second you Apparated - the meeting point was attacked."

Severus stood frozen on the spot and tried to sort out what he thought he'd just heard but couldn't believe. While he'd been trying to pass on informations to Dumbledore there had been - what? Another spy? Who? Why? And how had this spy gained access to informations he hadn't been able to get? That was just ... not possible!

Lucius cocked his head. "Ah, I see you are thinking. Do you have any idea who did it? It could be Nott, I think. He's strange."

But before Severus could even think of an answer to that question, the doors to Voldemort's room opened soundlessly. He instantly started walking and Lucius accompanied him in. 

The room was cold and almost dark and Voldemort's high-pitched voice seemed to come from every direction at once.

"I take it that Lucius has informed you?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Did you bring my letter back?"

"Yes."

"Tell me."

"I Apparated to different locations to cover up my trail. I waited for some time before I made the last jumps, to make sure I wasn't being followed."

"And were you followed?"

"No."

"Very well then. Lucius, anything yet?"

"I'm sorry, my Lord. Crabbe is trying to sort it all out, but it's all a bit roughed up in the Ministry tonight, and with no contact person left there - "

"Spare me the details. You can go. Severus ... stay behind."

Lucius frowned but didn't say anything. He turned to go and the doors shut behind him. 

"My Lord?" 

"Is there anything you want to tell me, Severus?" 

There really wasn't, but perhaps confessing a _part_ of what had actually happened would make the whole story more convincing. And if Voldemort should decide to check on the _different locations_ he so unspecifically mentioned ...

"I ... Apparated to Hogsmeade. I know that was a mistake. I shouldn't have chosen that place."

"Yes. Indeed." 

Voldemort paused and Severus' heart was beating so fast it hurt. He resisted the urge to add any more excuses. He really didn't want to sound desperate.

"Are you sure that no-one followed your traces back here, at least?"

"Yes."

Another long moment of silence and Severus dreaded Voldemort's next question.

"I want to hear your opinion. Who do you think is betraying me?"

He knew it. Voldemort was suspecting him. About time. He thought shortly about throwing in some names to divert suspicion from himself. But that would make him suspicious right away, wouldn't it? 

"It sure isn't Nott," he sneered. "He couldn't even lie to someone who's blind and deaf without being detected."

"What about Lucius?"

Severus almost choked. "No!" he shouted, and then bit his tongue, stupefied by his instinctive reaction. 

"Are you sure? It has to be someone close to me." 

Severus thought about diversion again. He was tempted. Lucius _wasn't_ his friend. Not anymore. Not a _real_ friend ... But that wasn't the point, was it? 

"Yes, I'm sure. There's no-one who's more loyal to you than Lucius." And then he realised. "But you know that, don't you? Why did you ask me that?"

Voldemort got up from his seat and started moving towards him, but stopped before Severus could get more than a glimpse of his face. "I was curious about your reaction, that's all. You can go now."

Severus walked out of the room and hoped that Voldemort hadn't seen him go very pale. Lucius was waiting for him outside but Severus left him standing and didn't stop walking until he was out of the building and able to Apparate.

*** 

He had been standing in front of her door for several minutes now. 

Dumbledore had done his speech on him but he could barely remember the details. He knew he'd forgotten to make his request about expelling Granger, but that hadn't been really important at the point. Of course he'd told the Headmaster about the other spy. He clearly remembered Dumbledore's puzzled face which spoke for itself. As soon as Dumbledore had mentioned McGonagall, though, Severus had determinedly put an end to the conversation. He didn't want Dumbledore to know how he felt about this whole _affair_. Partly because he didn't know himself, partly because he was angry about how oblivious he'd been to the danger he'd put everyone into by trying for once not to be alone in this. Dumbledore, as if he ever would, hadn't given him any direct orders, but Severus had decided to tell McGonagall that they wouldn't have any more meetings in the future. 

He knocked, and the door was flung open before he could take his hand down. The expression on McGonagall's face was rigid. 

Severus matched her look. "I just wanted to make sure you're not ... that you are well."

"I am."

"Good." 

Seconds passed and the silence became uncomfortable while she just stood in the doorway. 

"Can I come in?" he said, immediately regretting it. This wasn't what he had planned to say. He'd wanted to make this short and simple.

"It's late."

"Yes. I'm sorry. I better go then. Good - "

She left him standing in mid-sentence and walked back into her room, leaving the door open. "I made some coffee," she said, not turning her head. 

Severus could see her retreating into another room and heard a whistling sound in the background.

"I thought you wanted to come in?" she snapped from inside. "Don't make such a fuss now! You're letting in all the cold."

He sighed. "I'll take my coffee black, then," he called, still standing on her doorstep.

She perked her head out of the kitchen. "Do you? I always suspected you to secretly be the lots-of-sugar type." She gave him a challenging look and he returned it. 

"You know, Minerva, sometimes things are just exactly what they seem to be."

__

the end

***

Wait - meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room:

"Did you get it?"

"No. I was chased by some creature that tried to kill me."

"WHAT?"

"It was horrible! Next time you go, Ron."

"But I can't change into a fox."

"And _I_ couldn't change back to human. I'll never do that again before my training is finished. It totally freaked me out. I almost bit - "

"What happened?"

"I can't tell you."

"What? Why?"

"Dumbledore has sworn me to silence."

"What's _he_ got to do with it? And why the secrecy?"

"That's what I can't tell you, aren't you listening to me? He and McGonagall gave me detention for the rest of term. And not to mention the points they've taken. I'm never going to be Head Girl now."

"Oh, Hermione! That's not our worst problem. If you didn't get the ingredients we can't make the potion."

"You don't say."

"So?"

"Let me think! Perhaps ... we could ask Snape."

"Err ... come again?"

"No. Just trust me. I may not become Head Girl any time soon, but at least I'm well informed."

"..."

__

the end, really.

End notes:

I know I left more than one question unanswered, don't sue me. :-) Sometimes things start and then you can't stop them. But I think I will continue this, so there might be a chance that the plot will develop further.


End file.
